Grow your love of art!

The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is seeking enthusiastic, people-oriented individuals to join our dedicated team of docents – volunteers who share an interest in introducing children and adults to Canadian art, culture and history. This is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about our country, and to share your love of learning with visitors.

What does a docent do?

Docents lead interactive tours of our permanent collection and exhibitions, for McMichael's student and adult groups. You can opt to work with kids, adults or both.

Generally, weekday docents conduct themed tours, for school groups from September to June, excluding school holidays. These tours are highly interactive and include hands-on activities. Docents are also involved in providing studio programs and general tours of the collection for adult groups. Weekday docents commit five hours a week to either observe or conduct tours, and one morning (every third Monday) a month from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for training.

Weekend docents are responsible for giving general tours to adult and special interest groups on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year. They also have a commitment to attend monthly training sessions held between September and June on every third Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Docents-in-training are also asked to follow tours conducted by experienced docents and/or gallery educators. Personal research on the topics covered in the training sessions is recommended.

The active-docents' training sessions focus on art criticism, art history, aesthetics and art making related to the works of the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, and of First Nations and Inuit artists. Teaching and touring techniques are also discussed.